Following "in which" is the word kai, which means "and" or "also." This introduces something else (other than being "made alive in spirit") that Christ did in the sphere of the spirit – namely, "he went and preached to the spirits in prison." And here is the crux of the problem for interpreters.

Who are these "spirits in prison"? Those who favor the first interpretation assert that the word "spirits" must refer to either angels or demons. However, biblical usage does not in fact support this; rather, the meaning is determined by the context.

Peter indicates in verse 20 that he is referring to those "who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built." Again, those who favor the first interpretation say that these were fallen angels, and some cite Genesis 6:1-4 as support. In this view, the fallen angels married human women and mated with them to produce offspring. However, Jesus said that angels do not marry (Matthew 22:30), and to put it mildly, it is not at all certain if it is even possible for angels to have sexual intercourse with humans and produce children. Instead, those verses can very well be talking about intermarriages between the godly and the ungodly.

On the other hand, Genesis 6:5-7 indicates that it was the wickedness of men that God witnessed ("The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become"), and it was mankind that he then set out to destroy ("I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth"), that is, with the exception of Noah and his family. Therefore, it is best to understand the "spirits in prison" as referring to the wicked men that lived at the time of Noah.

Now, 2 Peter 2:4 says, "God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment." And Noah is mentioned in verse 5. So the passage is sometimes used to support the theory that the "spirits in prison" were fallen angels. However, once we read the entire passage, it becomes clear that it proves exactly the opposite:

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men… (2 Peter 2:4-7)

Notice that the four verses focus on different persons and events. Verse 4 refers to fallen angels who were sent to "gloomy dungeons." It has no direct relation to verse 5, which refers to Noah in connection with "ungodly people," and not fallen angels. Verse 6 refers to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in connection with "the ungodly." Then, although verse 7 refers to a related event, the focus is no longer on Sodom and Gomorrah, but on Lot in relation to the "lawless men" of those cities.

Therefore, there is no reason to connect the fallen angels in verse 4 to the time of Noah in verse 5. Rather, the verse is talking about the angels that fell even before the fall of Adam, if not before his creation. As for verse 5, it explicitly indicates that the flood was sent to destroy "ungodly people," that Noah was "a preacher of righteousness," and that the preaching was done in that generation. This lends strong support to the second interpretation of 1 Peter 3:19, that the "spirits in prison" were ungodly humans, and that Christ in spirit had preached through Noah.

As for why these spirits are said to be "in prison," it is because Peter is referring to them from the current point of view – these ungodly men of the past are now in prison. It is not uncommon for us to speak this way. For example, I could say, "I warned these prisoners not to rob the bank." But this does not mean that I warned them after they had already robbed the bank and become prisoners. It is understood, and the context of the conversation could make it even more clear, that I warned them before they robbed the bank, but they did not listen, and now they are in prison. So it is appropriate to call these people prisoners even though they were not in prison when I warned them, since they are now prisoners indeed.

Likewise, the ungodly men who disobeyed in Noah's time are, as the NASB reads, "now in prison." A similar expression will appear in 4:6, where it refers to "those who are now dead." This also explains why Peter refers to them as "spirits," for these ungodly men have longed perished. As for the idea that Christ preached through Noah "in spirit," this is not foreign at all to biblical thinking, and the interpretation is especially appropriate here given 1:11.

Thus the second interpretation of verses 19 and 20 appears exegetically superior, that is, Christ preached through Noah to the ungodly men in the days before the Flood. It also serves the context very well. Like Noah, Christians are preachers of righteousness – speaking by the Spirit of Christ – in the midst of an ungodly population that oppose and mock the faith. By their words and their lives, believers bear witness to the judgment that is to come and the salvation that is found in Jesus Christ alone. Verse 20 adds that in Noah's day, "only a few people, eight in all, were saved," assuring believers that, even though they may be in the minority, they will be preserved and vindicated.

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